Wednesday, June 16, 1999Longtime IST coach to retireWednesday, June 16, 1999Press staff reportYoung swimmers didn't always have a place on the Issaquah Swim Team. In 1979, when Leah Kay Mix's son, Eric, was on the team, she noticed many younger siblings of IST members running around the Julius Boehm Pool during practice.She wanted to get them involved, so Mix volunteered to coach a group of 5- and 6-year-olds, including her daughter, Leslie.Mix's volunteer-turned-paid position has lasted the longest of any IST coach. On June 6, she was recognized at the annual IST awards dinner for her commitment to the program.In August, Mix will retire after nearly 20 years of IST coaching."Some of the kids that I got started have already finished college," Mix reflected. Fundamental backbone"Leah Kay has been the backbone of the developmental swimmers for the Issaquah Swim Team," said IST manager Dave Kienlen."I think that one of the reasons she has been so successful and here for a long time is she brings some qualities to humanity that everyone of us parents and coaches revere," Kienlen added. "She brings a motherly love to every one of those little children. That helps boost their confidence, their security and their motivation."Mix also is a strong disciplinarian and consistent in her approach. "The kids know exactly what is expected," Kienlen said. "They know when they're going to be praised for doing well, and they know what they're going to be corrected on. They don't have to worry about how Leah Kay is going to respond. She's a very loving woman."Teaching all four competitive strokes, starts and turns is Mix's main responsibility with IST members ages 8-and-under.They practice three times a week and compete about once a month. "I really enjoy the little people," Mix said of this age division. "They say the funniest things."Traditionally, the IST has had a good core of coaches. Mix became a paid staff member about 10 years ago.This past year, Mix's daughter, Leslie, returned from the University of Tennessee, where she was an NCAA Division I All-American distance freestyler on the women's swim team.Leslie, along with Noelle Roundy, assisted her mother with IST coaching duties. Both women are being considered as replacements when Leah Kay Mix's retirement becomes official."Lots and lots of people have joined the IST because they have known about Leah Kay," Kienlen said. "She's going to be the kind of person who is probably impossible to replace because of all of her qualities." Content © 2005 The Issaquah Press Software © 1998-2005 1up! Software, All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, March 17, 1999IST looks aheadWednesday, March 17, 1999Rita BalockPress reporterThe high school record-setting performance and All-American time recorded by Evan Taylor in the 100-yard butterfly at the 3A State boys' swim championships in mid-February is just the tip of what is in store for the Issaquah Swim Team.Taylor, an Issaquah High School senior, not only repeated as champ in his specialty, but qualified for the 1998-99 United States senior championship swim meet with his '.48-second race.Later this month, Taylor will travel to Long Island, N.Y., for the senior meet, which features the nation's fastest swimmers.Taylor is part of "IST 2004" - a long-term plan with the Summer Olympic Games as one goal.Another IST 2004 goal is to win a senior national team title. It wasn't difficult for IST coach Dave Kienlen to outline those lofty aspirations two years ago.Kienlen watched the IST team he took over in 1993 grow from 70 members and three coaches, to its present 210 members and 10 coaches.When Kienlen arrived, the IST had no junior national qualifiers. Within four years, the IST had six.And now, Taylor is Kienlen's first senior national qualifier, another IST milestone. Long-term planAs Kienlen mapped IST 2004 on paper, he alone couldn't sell the IST board of directors on the vision. Largely, because Kienlen, alone, couldn't take the competitive age division team there.Kienlen, who works 40-hour weeks as the aquatics director for the city of Issaquah, also was spending 55-60 hours weekly as head IST coach. "In order for our program to continue to move forward, the seniors have to have a coach that can devote his full time to their development and their training and planning," Kienlen explained."What I was seeing is my time as head coach and senior coach, because the team was growing so large, the administrative responsibility was getting bigger and bigger," Kienlen added. "Less of my time was left for coaching. If I kept doing what I was doing, (the senior swimmers) were the ones that were going to suffer."But Kienlen refused to settle for any senior swim coach. Personalities, coaching styles, success and potential fit with the family-like IST program were all weighed by Kienlen as he canvassed greater Seattle area swim coaches.In the end, there was only one Kienlen would recommend when he made his pitch to reorganize his IST role to that of team director, which in turn made him available to coach the Issaquah High School girls and boys' teams. Kyle Johnson, a Shoreline native and former Texas Christian University swimmer, was Kienlen's hand-picked choice as IST senior coach.IST 2004 took six-to-eight months for Kienlen and Johnson to finalize, before presenting it to the IST board."Every aspect of our program has been considered," Kienlen said. Johnson aboardIn September 1997, Johnson came aboard as IST senior coach. Paul Ford heads the age group coaching staff and Leah Kay Mix heads the developmental coaching staff.Johnson was Kienlen's choice for two main reasons."One would be his absolute love for coaching and for kids," Kienlen said. "The other is his character as a human being. ... I've always wanted my coaches to be role models to their kids; ones that parents could say, `that's who I want my child to swim for.'"Kyle has those qualities," Kienlen added. "He is enthusiastic and aggressive in his profession. He is a researcher and technician. He studies those things that will make these athletes get better."Johnson, 38, has not disappointed.This week, the IST is a co-host for the U.S. Junior Championship swim meet at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.IST has four junior national qualifiers, including Taylor (100 fly, 200 fly, 200 individual medley); Kevin Stage (100 backstroke, 200 back, 200 freestyle); Sara Quinn ('0 free, 1,000 free); and Brian Davis ('0 free). Stage and Quinn are both IHS seniors. Davis is an IHS freshman.Johnson trains 30 athletes ages 13-and-up, with about 18 committed to IST 2004 goals."That's what this sport is about," Johnson explained. "It's important to outline the longer-term goal setting. Progressive development is more than just the physical capacities. You have to keep it stimulating at all times." CommittedJohnson left the 120-member Mill Creek Swim Club, which he started seven years ago, and is settling in with the IST program. The first six months, he commuted twice-daily from North Seattle to the Julius Boehm Pool.Now, he and his wife, Rhonda Griffin, live on Tiger Mountain, with 14-month-old son, Jackson, who was introduced to the pool at the age of 3 months and recently swam 10 feet by himself."Five years is a lot of time, but then it's not," Johnson said. "It's important when they enter into the swimming world, or process, that they understand they will have to develop many capacities of themselves, not just physically. "By the time they enter my training group, that's when they have to make their load of training increases," Johnson added. "Ideally, my hope is they're developing the qualities that will make up a champion without exploiting their physical gifts and enthusiasm."Continuity is another key.Johnson is sharing with the IST coaching staff information he has been studying the past three years with Alex Nikitan, a former Soviet Union national swim team coach, who now resides in Portland, Ore. Nikitan is a student of Dr. Sokolovas of Lithuania, who is considered "the foremost swimming scientist in the world," according to Johnson.Part of Johnson's studies include computer programming that measures the land and water strengths of swimmers. "It helps to optimize where they are at currently and gives us a very clear picture, identifying strengths and weaknesses," Johnson added. "We try to individualize (training) as much as we can for each athlete, within the contest of the team."Johnson spends 3-5 hours daily planning and another 4-5 hours coaching at the pool in split morning and late-afternoon shifts."The coach's reward is to be able to be so intimately involved with their process, not only as an athlete, but as a person," Johnson said."We have to continually reaffirm that (IST 2004) commitment, this is where we're heading and this is what the process is," Johnson added. "It was really gratifying to see the instant display of appreciation and respect that they gave me."Watching Taylor's senior national qualifying race, alongside Kienlen, "that was so rewarding, to be side-by-side with Dave," Johnson said. "To be able to know it was a shared experience, with our commitment and belief in each other, and the power of the program."